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Ship breaking companies will have to store radioactive and other hazardous waste in a temporary facility at their yards before getting rid of it through registered recyclers under amendments proposed to the Shipbreaking Code 2013.
The ministry of shipping released the proposed amendments recently, which are in line with the requirements of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), for public feedback.
Ship breakers will also need to appoint a safety officer to ensure the protocols are met.
Hazardous waste like lead-acid batteries and other lead-bearing waste needs to be disposed of through registered recyclers. Electric and electronic waste will have to be recycled through registered E-waste recyclers.
“Apart from these amendments, we have also asked Bureau of India Standards (BIS) to frame a steel classification for us. Based on this, the steel would be classified as the one that could be converted into secondary steel and the other which needs to be discarded,” a shipping ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
The shipping ministry also proposed reducing the time for submitting documents from three weeks to seven days before the expected arrival of a ship for recycling. The documents have to be perused by the state maritime board/port authority, state pollution control board and the customs department.
The ship recycler or owner would also be required to submit an assessment of hazardous wastes in the structure of the ship and on board as far as practicable by reference to the ship’s drawings, technical specifications, stores and manifest, in consultation with the shipbuilder, equipment manufacturer and others.
These amendments have been introduced after the shipping ministry’s consultations on the first draft of the amendments last year drew flak from environmental groups.
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